Slide buckle



D. l. REITER SLIDE BUCKLE Sept. 13, 1938.

Filed May 3, 1938 lll) Il l wll A d4 INVENTOR DAN/a -ORNEFY Patented Sept. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLIDE BUCKLE Daniel I. Reiter, New York, N. Y.

Application May 3, 1938, Serial No. 205,673

Claims.

This invention relates to slide buckles and particularly to the type designed to have one belt or strap end secured thereto and a cooperating belt or strap end passed therethrough and locked into 5 position to secure the belt in an adjusted position to the buckle.

In slide buckles heretofore known, in which a cross bar is slidable on a frame, the end of a strap is secured to the slidable cross bar customarily by looping the strap end about the cross bar and then stitching the thus looped or folded-over end of the strap or belt to close the loop.

This operation is inconvenient and comparatively expensive and my invention, therefore, contemplates the provision of bendable metallic means whereby the strap end is secured to the cross bar adequately and rmly by a bending operation without the necessity for any sewing operation.

My invention further contemplates the provision of means on the slidable cross bar of a slide buckle for securing a strap end in place to the cross bar, said means comprising a pair of members bendable on to the remainder of the cross bar and means on said members cooperating with the remainder of the cross bar to mechanically stitch the belt end in place when said members are bent.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a buckle embodying my invention and showing the ends of a strap held thereby.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational View of the same.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the buckle as it appears when furnished to the consumer, the

belt-securing means outstanding initially at an acute angle to the remainder of the cross bar of the buckle, preparatory to receiving the belt end therebetween.

In the practical embodiment of the invention which I have shown by way of example, the buckle frame I0 is preferably made of a single piece of sheet metal being provided with the pair of longitudinally extending spaced parallel side bars I I and I2. Extending between and secured to said side bars is the sliding cross bar I3 also made of a single piece of metal. At its ends the cross bar I3 is provided with suitable 180 bends I4 and I5 each extending around one of the side bars I I and I2, so that the cross bar may slide from one end of the side bar to the other. Suitable projections as (Cl. .Z4-196) I6, I1 on the end bars I8 and I9 respectively serve to limit such movement.

Extending from the bend I4 and formed integrally therewith is the bendable securing plate 20. Said plate is preferably narrower than the body portion 2l of the cross bar and at its edges is provided with suitable prongs as 22, bent at substantially right angles to the plate 20 and directed toward the body portion 2|. While the prongs 22 are illustrated as extending from the edges of the plate 20, it will be understood that said prongs may extend from any desired point of the plate as will be obvious and hence needs no illustration. Initially the plate 20 extends from the bend Ill at an acute angle to the body portion 2|, leaving i sufcient room between said plate and said body portion for the insertion of the strap end 23 therebetween.

In said body portion, perforations or recesses 24 are formed at the proper points to register with n and receive the prongs 22 when the plate 20 is bent towards the body portion. It will be understood, however, that in place of complete perforations the material of the body portion may be indented or depressed to provide depressions or recesses corresponding to the perforations 24 and functioning similarly thereto but closed by the depressed portion or wall of the material thereof. A plate 25 similar in all respects to the plate 20 extends from the bend I5 of the cross bar at a corresponding acute angle, said plates 20 and 25 being arranged adjacent the inner face of the body portion and being directed toward each other but being each spaced sumciently from the body portion 2l to permit the belt end 23 to be inserted thereunder.

The end 23 of the belt or strap to be secured to the cross bar, after having been inserted between the plates 20, 25 and the body portion 2 I, need not be looped about the cross bar, but is readily secured in place by merely bending said plates toward the body portion 2|, and into substantially parallel relation thereto. When this is done, said plates firmly hold the belt end in place while at the Sametime the prongs 22 either puncture the belt end or force the material of said belt end into the perforations or recesses 24. Whether or not the belt end is punctured by the prongs 22, said prongs enter the recesses or perforations 24 and thereby mechanically stitch the belt end to the cross bar (Figs. 1, 2 and 3).

It will thus be seen that by a simple bending operation of the plates, the belt end may be adequately secured in place to the cross bar without the necessity for looping the belt end around said CII bar or for stitching the looped end of the belt in place. Preferably, the body portion 2| carries the coplanar edge prongs 26, 21, 28 and 29 for adequately securing the adjusted strap or belt 30 in place. The strap 30 is passed underneath the end bars I8 and I9 but over the cross bar I3 into the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. When the belt is tensioned, the cross bar I3 moves towards the right as viewed in Fig. 1, whereby the prongs 28 and 29 cooperate with the edge 3I of the end bar I9 to adequately secure the belt 30 in place and to maintain it removably in its thus secured position. Should the belt llIII be passed in the opposite direction underneath the end bar I9, then over the cross bar, then underneath the cross bar I8, then tension applied to the belt causes the cross bar I3 to slide towards the left as viewed in Fig. l, so that the prongs 26 and 21 cooperate with the edge 32 of the end bar I8 to secure the belt in place.

It will be seen that in my new buckle the cross bar has the function of securing the end of one belt thereto adequately by a simple bending operation and Without the necessity for looping or stitching the belt, said cross bar having the additional function by reason of the prongs thereon of cooperating with the buckle frame to secure the other belt thereto.

It will further be seen that I have provided a simple but efficient buckle adapted for economical manufacture and adequate for the purposes for which it is intended.

While I have shown and described certain specic embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limitingl myself thereto, but intend to claim the invention as broadly as may be permitted by the state of the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a slide buckle, a substantially rectangular frame and a cross bar slidable on said frame, said cross bar comprising a'body portion having spaced recesses therein, end portions on the cross bar embracing and slidable on the frame, and a belt-holding plate extending from each of the end portions and-arranged in opposed relation to the body portion, each of said plates extending less than half way across said frame and being bendable toward the body portion, and prongs on each of the plates each adaptedV to enter a recess of the body portion when theplate is bent towards the body portion.

2. In a slide buckle, a one-piece slidable cross bar comprising a body portion having an outer face and an inner face and having spaced perforations therein, a substantially 180 bend at each end of the body portion, and a plate extending from each of said bends and arranged inwardly of the inner face of the body portion at an acute angle thereto, each of said plates having a prong thereon adapted to enter a perforation when the plate is bent into parallel relation to said body portion, and each of said plates having a length less than half the length of the body portion.

3. In a slide buckle, a frame having parallel side bars, and a cross bar bent about and slidable on the side bars, said cross bar having a perforated portion and having a pair of opposed plates terminating in adjacent free edges and initially arranged at an acute angle to and at one face of the perforated portion and having prongs thereon arranged to enter the perforations of the perforated portion when the plates are bent toward the perforated portion to mechanically stitch a belt end inserted therebetween to the cross bar.

4. In a slide buckle, a slidable perforated cross bar, and means for mechanically stitching a belt end to the cross bar, comprising a pair of plates forming part of the cross bar and bendable toward the remainder of the cross bar, and prongs on the plates arranged to engagea-belt end and when the plates are bent to force said belt end into the perforations of the cross bar.

5. In a Vslide buckle, a one-piece frame having parallel end bars and parallel side bars at right angles to the end bars, a one-piece cross bar slidable on the side bars and having a pronged body portion provided with spaced recesses therein, an end portion extending from each end of the body portion and slidably embracing a side bar, a belt-holding plate extending from each end portion toward the other end portion and bendable toward the bodyportion to hold a belt end therebetween, and prongs projecting from each of the plates toward the body portion and each arranged in positionto enter one of the recesses on the-bending of the plate into beltholding position.

DANIEL I. REITER. 

